Peter Craig is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at Michigan State University. Craig will use observational data from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) to measure the rate of Galactic Novae. Craig will also investigate how the properties of the novae change with their position throughout the Galaxy. The project will include working with small teams of amateur observers through the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) to generate training materials for future teams of observers.
It is thought that there is a substantial population of Galactic novae that are hidden in the highly extinguished regions of the Galaxy. Previous datasets have led to significant uncertainty in the rate of novae in the Galaxy. Fortunately, LSST’s high visit depth will allow for access to more of these novae than ever before. Craig will use this timely dataset to finally measure the rate with much higher accuracy. This will lead to critical improvements in measuring the Galactic lithium production and it will inform binary population synthesis models. Further, it is relevant for understanding novae as possible Type Ia supernova progenitors. This research award is partially funded by a generous gift from Charles Simonyi to the U.S. NSF Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences Section of Astronomical Sciences. The project includes significant contributions to Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time.
This award reflects NSF’s statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation’s intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.